Wrench.



-No.786,818. J Y PATENYTED APR.11,

A. JOHNSON.

WRENCH. APPLIUATIOH FILED APR. 11, 1904'.

UNITED STATES Patented April 11, 1905.

ALFRED JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,818, dated April11, 1905.

Application filed April 11, 1904. Serial No. 202,549.

To all whmn it may concern;

Be it known that I, ALFRED JOHNSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches,of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a wrench of simple andinexpensive construchead of a bolt.

Referring to the drawings, the wrench consists of a handle which carriesa fixed curved jaw 6 and movable alligator-jaws? 7. The alligator-jawsare pivotally mounted between the ears of a slotted projection 8 on thehandle by a transverse pin 9 and are provided with a thumb-piece 10,which is adapted to engage a shoulder 11 to 'prevent the alligatorjawsswinging too far outwardly and away from the fixed jaw. 'The fixed jawis provided with a longitudinal slot 12 to receive the alligator-jaws,which are mounted in alinement therewith and adapted to swing therein.The fixed jaw is curved eccentrically to the pivot of thealligator-jaws, so that the size of the socket between thealligator-jaws to receive the article is decreased as the alligatorjawsswing downward and increased as they are swung upward. I provide the jaw7 with a serrated engaging face 13 to rigidly hold the article.

My improved wrench is equally well adapted to be applied to roundarticles, such as the pipe 14, (shown in Fig. 1,) or square articles,such as the bolt-head shown in Fig. 2, and it will accommodate articleswhose diameter varies considerably in size. In practicethe alligatorjawsare caused to swing as far outward as possible by gravity or by pressingupon the thumb-piece 10, and the wrench is then engaged with the articleand turned. The article rests in the socket formed by the alligatorjaws,and when the wrench is turned the article is clamped between the jaw 7and the eccentric face 16 of the rigid jaw 6. The greater the pressureonthe wrench the tighter the article willbe held. To release the wrench,the pressure is withdrawn and the wrench is simply pulled away from thearticle. It will thus be seen that in the application and removal of thewrench the operation is entirely automatic and requires no adjustment ofparts whatsoever.

The wrench is very simple in construction and consists wholly of twoparts, one part only being movable, and it can be manufacturedinexpensively and used for a great variety of purposes.

Without limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement ofparts herein shown and described, whatI claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A wrench comprising a handle, a fixed eccentrically-curved jawextending from the handle and slotted therethrough to, receive a pivotedjaw, projected bearing-ears formed integral with the base of the curvedfixed jaw and adjacent thereto, and alligator-jaws projecting rigidlyfrom their base and pivotally mounted between said bearing-ears inalinement with. the slot in the fixed jaw to swing therein.

2. A wrench comprising a handle, a fixed curved jaw, extending from thehandle and slot-' ted therethrough to receive a pivoted jaw, projectedbearing-ears formed integral with the base of the curved fixedjaw andadjacent thereto, alligator-jaws projecting rigidly from their base andpivotally mounted between said bearing-ears in alinement with the slotin the fixed jaw to swing therein, and eccentrically mounted to theworking face of the fixed jaw, and formed with a stop extensionprojected outwardly from the pivotal point and adapted to lodge againstthe shoulder formed by the lower wall of the said slot.

. ALFRED JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. BELT, P. L. SoHMEoHEL.

